Characterization of CuSbSe2 crystallites synthesized using a hot injection method

Abstract

In this study, a novel and facile hot injection method for the synthesis of single phase CuSbSe₂ crystallites was developed by using low toxic triethylene glycol (TEG) as both the solvent and reducing agent and triethylenetetramine (TETA) as co-reducing agent. The effects of the amounts of TETA addition and reaction temperatures on the phase development were investigated. The crystalline structures, morphologies, chemical compositions and optical characterization of the synthesized products were investigated using XRD, TEM, EDS, XPS, and UV-Vis-NIR. A single phase CuSbSe₂ crystallites can be obtained by using triethylene glycol as the solvent and reducing agent and triethylenetetramine as co-reducing agent. TETA addition plays a key role in determining the final phase. The presence of the intermediate phase, Cu₃SbSe₄ phase could be due to the existence of Cu²⁺, resulting from the insufficient reducibility in the solution. A sufficient amount of TETA can facilitate the reduction of Cu²⁺ into Cu⁺, leading to the preformed Cu₃SbSe₄ phase dissolved and reacted with Sb₂Se₃ to form CuSbSe₂. The obtained CuSbSe₂ phase had a direct band gap with the band gap value of 1.06 eV.